Iyanden WH40K
by Mattwho81
Summary: A short story based on the events of the battle of Iyanden from Games Workshop.


Lament of the Eldar

Iyanden

Many millennia ago the refined Eldar civilisation was ripped asunder by a galactic cataclysm. The magnitude of this catastrophe not only tore holes in the fabric of space itself, but also forced the Eldar to assume nomadic existences within vast planet-ships known as Craftworlds. These organic vessels travel gracefully through the gulf of space, inhabited by the survivors of the Eldar race.

The largest, and most graceful of all these Craftworlds was known as Iyanden, and it was famed throughout the Eldar for its fertility and fecundity. Grown in orbit around the most distant outpost of their empire it avoided the dire consequences of the fall and as a result its populace remained unpolluted by the taint of Chaos. Indeed the females of Iyanden were so fertile that they could bear a child as often as once a century! Iyanden was spoken of in envious awe by the other Eldar and they looked upon as their greatest hope for the rebirth of their race.

Sadly the very isolation that had spared Iyanden from Chaos was to leave it horribly exposed to a new menace: the Tyranids. Since before the birth of the Imperium Iyanden had drifted slowly through the far galactic east, what men call Segmentum Ultima. Blissfully unaware of the looming threat of Hive Fleet Kraken Iyanden did not foresee the danger until it was far too late.

_+++Maugen Ra, The Harvester of Souls+++_

Maugen Ra is the darkest and most sinister of the Eldar Phoenix Lords, a feared and dreaded silhouette spoken of only in the most hushed whispers. The last survivor of the doomed Craftworld Altansar, Maugen Ra has travelled the galaxy for millennia and his many reincarnations have fought against every foe of the Eldar with ruthless implacability.

_Alone among the Phoenix Lords Maugen Ra recognised that the Eldar cannot match the Younger Races blade for blade so instead he taught his followers the skills of long-range war. He stands like a rock in the tide of battle using his great shuriken cannon, the Maugetar, to mow down the ranks of the enemy with ease. Likewise his Dark Reapers wield fearsome cannons with precision and skill, blasting apart their foes with devastating pinpoint strikes._

_Maugen Ra travels the Web-Way forever seeking battle and he has shown great prescience in finding his way to those places where his skills are most desperately needed. Whenever the threat is most dire and death looms all around, Maugen Ra will appear and fight relentlessly to hold the line against the night. He has died countless times but each time he has risen from the ashes of defeat to continue his endless struggling to deny the fate of the Eldar. _

_But some whisper that it is the presence of Maugen Ra itself heralds disaster. Many of the greatest laments in Eldar history tell of the unlooked for appearance of Maugen Ra and some hint that his connection with death is closer than the Eldar imagine. In the long hours of night some of the oldest Eldar have asked themselves whether it is only the souls of the enemy that the dark Phoenix Lord reaps._

The Shadow of death

Although Iyanden's Farseers had long foreseen the tendrils of doom lying across the future they could never perceive the nature of the threat nor a means of diverting disaster. It was not until the Craftworld's rangers reported physical signs of the Great Devourer that the Farseer's were able to pierce the Shadow of the Hive Mind and the dire threat was laid bare. The consumption of several barren Mon-Keigh worlds betrayed that the Great Devourer was set on course for Iyanden itself. Many rangers fell mute in terror at the sheer scale of the nightmare descending upon their beloved sanctuary.

Farseer Kelimon called together all of Iyanden's inhabitants where several actions were debated. Some suggested carrying the fight to the enemy, some called for flight and some called for diverting the threat towards the nearest Mon-Keigh world. No single voice could claim the authority to decide, for the Eldar had never faced such a foe before. It was into this deadlock that a new voice came, unlooked and uncalled for, the dark Phoenix Lord Maugen Ra. Amid fearful whispers and shocked silence Maugen Ra ascended the dais, he spoke to the assembled Eldar and told them that the feeble Mon-Keigh could not stand before the Great Devourer. Nourished by such bounty the foe would surge forth and the doom of the whole Eldar race would be sealed. Craftworld Iyanden must fight, here and now, or the Hive Mind would devour all.

The entirety of Iyanden was ordered to mobilise immediately. No mere barricade or battle line would contain this conflict. The eldritch architecture was fortified, the Eldar fleet was recalled and help sought from other Craftworlds. The Exarchs assembled and called forth the very spirit of war, the Avatar of Khaine. The spirit stones of fallen warriors were plucked from the Craftworld, ripping their souls from eternal rest so that they could fight once more as Wraithguard.

Craftworld Iyanden was ready for war.

_+++The Prodigal+++_

_Fifty years before the Tyranid attack High Admiral Yriel had led the Iyanden fleet with unmatched skill and judgement. However he was accused of the flaw of pride after a gamble that put Iyanden at terrible risk. His rash actions and refusal to admit his mistake led to him being put on trial. Yriel was deposed as High Admiral and vowed never to return. The outcast commander had taken those of his fleet still loyal to him and left, bitter and enraged. Over the years he and his followers had formed an Eldar raider force that was the largest and most glorious Eldar pirate fleet in the galaxy. _

**The Kraken strikes**

Twenty days of trepidation passed before the first of the Hive Fleet ships began to attack. The first wave of Tyranids to attack the Craftworld, a teeming horde of biological monstrosities, were despatched with ease by the graceful darting Eldar ships. The swooping ships of Iyanden outmanoeuvred and outgunned the Tyranids, tearing their vessels apart while taking minimal casualties. The Eldar stationed upon Iyanden allowed themselves a glimmer of hope as entire waves of Bio ships were despatched, but the Farseers remained silent. Although Iyanden's fleet was formidable indeed, the nightmarish Tyranids seemed to be without number. Slowly craft by craft, the Eldar fleet was succumbing to the sheer scale of Tyranid forces. At last a massive wave of ships, almost twice the size of any seen previously, broke through the battered fleet and landed their bio-killing machines on Iyanden itself. The Eldar fleet sustained horrendous casualties as the jaws of the Great Devourer closed.

On the Craftworld the landing forces were contained and destroyed. The wraithbone passageways of the Craftworld were cleansed of taint, the sacred groves purified. The spirits of the Eldar were raised further by the fact that the next wave of aliens was almost pitifully small, a mere shadow of what had come before. Although Iyanden's decimated fleet could not prevent yet more landings, these incursions were dealt with swiftly by the defending Aspect Warriors. For a brief moment the Craftworld allowed itself to breathe once more, daring to hope that they had weathered the storm.

But it was not over; in fact it had barely begun…

** Battle is joined**

The next wave of Tyranid ships was so vast that it blotted out the stars; all the previous waves combined could not match the overwhelming scale of this attack. Bloated grotesque alien craft descended with implacable purpose, vomiting out army after army of hideous monsters onto Iyanden's unspoilt havens. Impenetrable spores of clouds settled, infecting the craftworld itself. Twisted spiked forms struggled to emerge from the beautiful organic harmony of Iyanden's architecture. A horrific psychic scream resounded around the Craftworld's infrastructure as seething hordes of clawed, scuttling aliens were disgorged into its heart.

The halls and passageways of Iyanden were soon overrun with the foul Tyranids, filling its vaults with screams and the sound of beasts gorging themselves on Eldar flesh. Battle was joined in every imaginable arena. Amongst the treetops of the ancient Forests of Silence, Swooping Hawk Aspect Warriors fought a deadly aerial dance with flocks of black winged gargoyles. Warriors of the Striking Scorpions used their chainswords to slice their way through the massed Gaunts blocking the arterial passageways. Falcon Tanks hunted Carnifexes as they smashed apart the beautiful and complex sculptures of the Forest of Tears. On the hallowed ground of the Shrine of Asuryan, Warriors of the Dire Avengers fought close and bloody battles with seemingly infinite numbers of Gaunts. But all fell to the sheer numbers of attackers, their lives sold at a great cost to the Tyranid hordes.

It was not enough.

The Harvester of souls

In the sacred Fields of Sanctuary Maugen Ra assembled Iyanden's Dark Reapers. Behind them stood the grove of Crystal Seers, the very heart of the Craftworld, if it fell the Infinity Circuit itself would die and with it the very souls of their ancestors. Every Dark Reapers knew they could not retreat, could not give an inch despite the horrific odds they faced.

The black tide of Tyranids poured forth, a hundred thousand chittering screams blending together into a deafening roar. As one the Dark Reapers opened fire, a bright fan of missiles streaking across the open ground into the Tyranid horde. A roiling inferno of white fire erupted across the crest of the enemy advance, throwing hundreds of lesser beasts into the air. The Dark Reapers fired again and again and again, each blast nearer than the last as the beasts came on in a tidal wave of chitin. Maugen Ra himself stood at the forefront of the line, his weapon, the Maugetar blasting apart the craniums of the greater beasts with awe-inspiring precision. The Maugetar became a blur of white fire, spitting out ten shuriken rounds a second. With inhuman skill Maugen Ra perfectly placed each and every shot, every one a killing blow, not a single round wasted.

As the Tyranids drew closer the Dark Reapers raised their aim, firing in a high arc so that it landed before the horde's advance. In a great blast of choking dirt a great trench was blown open before the horde. The lesser beasts clambered down and out of it with ease but the great behemoths tumbled into the chasm and were trampled to death by the beasts that followed them. The Dark Reapers resumed firing into the oncoming wave annihilating dozens with each shot. Less than a hundred metres now separated the two forces and the Tyranids showed no sign of relenting. In desperation Maugen Ra became a fiery hurricane of destruction, scything down brood upon brood of Giants, the barrel of the Maugetar glowing white-hot.

Suddenly a great serpentine beast reared out of the approaching horde, leaping high into the air above the Dark Reapers. As it plummeted down Maugen Ra reacted with lightning speed, swivelling one step back he spoke a single word and his armour became as immoveable as rock. Down came the great beast and at the last possible instant Maugen Ra swung the Maugetar, so that the beast plunged onto its scythe blade. Stronger than the rock of ages Maugen Ra held firm, the beast's own momentum ripping it asunder, leaving nought but a disembowelled husk. With the death of the Hive Node the lesser beast's reverted to their instincts and turned to flee. The Dark Reapers continued their relentless barrage and not one Tyranid managed to escape from the Fields of Sanctuary.

**The wrath of Khaine**

The tide had turned and the Eldar seized this moment to launch a counter attack. The Avatar itself led the charge, its giant form glowing with internal fires as it hacked apart all that stood before it. In massed ranks behind it came the WraithGuard, their dead pilots blasting apart any that evaded the Avatar's fury. The ensuing battle was a bezerk orgy of destruction, raging like wildfire through the Forests of Silence, scouring the Tyranids from its sacred earth. But the damage was done, the magnificent arboretum defiled by the fast growing spores of the alien. Many of the Eldar wept to see the hideous and twisted parodies of once-great trees that were left standing.

But the battle was slowly being won; the Eldar had forced the Tyranids back. The Synapse creatures were dead and without their guidance the lesser beasts milled around aimlessly. Choirs of warlocks united in psychic accord to repel the Shadow of the Hive Mind. Bone singers coaxed the writhing wraithbone structure of the Craftworld to resist the warping effect of the Tyranid spores. It seemed victory was within their grasp, but the Tyranids were not finished yet. Without warning the fabric of space ripped asunder as millions of bio-ships poured from the Warp. The bulk of the Hive Fleet had arrived, and it dwarfed the paltry probing thrusts they had already made. The Farseers fell silent, there was to be no escape.

But even as the vast Fleet closed upon Iyanden's ravaged surface, space rippled as scores of Webway portals opened behind them. From their midnight depths poured dozens of Eldar ships, their delicate solar sails reflecting the starlight to create a rainbow bridge of light. Wave after wave of ships poured forth, flying the flags of Ulthwe, Saim-Han, Biel-Tan, Alaitoc, and a dozen other Craftworlds from across the galaxy. At their head soared the flagship of the pirate prince Yriel, the prodigal had come home.

Like the burning spear of Khaine, Yriel's coalition struck deep into the Tyranid swarm enveloping Iyanden. The Tyranids turned to face them but found itself chasing shadows as the graceful Eldar danced between their shots. Darting agile frigates pirouetted through the enemy lines and skewered the Hive Ships with javelins of Pulsar fire. One by one the great ships were assassinated and with their loss the power of the Hive Mind was shattered. The smaller vessels scattered in all directions, vainly attempting to evade the vengeance of the Eldar.

On the bridges of the ships, vigilant eyes scanned the runes of their scanners, awaiting the next wave. Tense hours passed but none did come. The space-borne Hive Fleet had been destroyed.

**Final confrontation**

Under Iyanden's skies, the battle still raged. With their fleet destroyed the Tyranids hurled themselves at the defenders one last time. This unexpected assault nearly broke the back of the Eldar forces, the Aspect warriors desperately falling back through the passageways. The Fortress of the Red Moon fell to hundreds of Gaunts whilst rippers devoured the dead. The place of answering where the Eldar first realised the magnitude of the threat fell to an assault led by a massive Hive Tyrant. Even with victory within their grasp it seemed as though the Eldar would not triumph.

But in a final act of loyalty that restored Yriel as a hero of his people the Pirate prince led his soldiers to battle at the front line. A desperate war of attrition forced the Tyranids back, grove by grove. One last charge, led by the last hive Tyrant, was annihilated by the combined might of the Avatar, the WraithGuard and Yriel's raiders. All that remained was to hunt down the scattered remnants of the Tyranid invaders. Iyanden had finally repelled the assault.

**The Cost**

Though the aliens had finally been destroyed, the Craftworld's victory was hollow indeed. Thousands upon thousands of the Eldar had been killed and the once-beautiful superstructure was enveloped by blackened corpses. Iyanden's once mighty fleet was a pitiful shadow of it's former glory, and the shells of the elegant craft listed in orbit.

Iyanden can never recover from such a blow, and its fate stands as a warning to those who underestimate the awesome hunger of the Great Devourer.

Worst of all the crossfire, and acidic ichors had shattered millions of Spirit Stones, crippling the Infinity Circuit and abandoning the souls of the dead to the hunger of She Who Thirsts. Most mysteriously were the unexplained gaps, where Spirit Stones had clearly been carefully excised from the Wraithbone and carried off to an uncertain fate at the claws of the Tyranids.

Of Maugen Ra, there was no sign….


End file.
